Domestic violence victims have a "pre-existing condition"?

By Maria Tchijov
Insurance companies have used the excuse of "pre-existing conditions" to deny coverage to countless Americans. From cancer patients to the elderly suffering from arthritis, these organizations have padded their profit margins by limiting coverage to patients deemed "high risk" because of their medical condition.

But, in DC and nine other states, including Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming, insurance companies have gone too far, claiming that "domestic violence victim" is also a pre-existing condition.

Words cannot describe the sheer inhumanity of this claim. It serves as yet further proof that our insurance system is broken, destroyed by the profit-mongering of the very companies who's sole purpose should be to provide Americans with access to care when they need it most. In 1994, an informal survey conducted by the Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that 8 of the 16 largest insurers in the country used domestic violence as a factor when decided whether to extend coverage and how much to charge if coverage was extended.

It is clear that insurance companies refuse to police themselves. It's up to us to call on Congress to take action now to pass health care reform and end discrimination against patients with pre-existing conditions.

http://www.seiu.org/2009/09/domestic-violence-victims-have-a-pre-existing-condition.php

This is beyond reality. Just think there was a meeting somewhere and someone actually suggested this. It's unreal.

:sarcasm:

I had no idea. Even though these companies do horribly immoral things all the time, this one bothers me even more.

In 1994, an informal survey conducted by the Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that 8 of the 16 largest insurers in the country used domestic violence as a factor when decided whether to extend coverage and how much to charge if coverage was extended.

Could well be going on, but going back that far for documentation undermines their credibility. For all we know half of those companies don't even exist any more.

:grr:

She had had gastric bypass surgery a few years earlier and was still 20 lbs overweight so Blue Cross/Blue Shield denied her. Never mind that if she had surgery to have the excess skin removed, most of that 20 lbs would be gone.

It is really ridiculous what they come up with. Luckily she got a job with good benefits right after she got her denial letter.